Real strategies for landing MSL and Medical Sales jobs

Monthly Archives: June 2014

I am frequently asked for “tips” on how to write a resume that will get medical sales interviews. Resume writing is complicated. Every person is different and the resume should reflect their experience on an individual level. Below are a few tips that should be factored in with every resume.

Respect the reader’s time. If you make them work to figure out why they should interview you, they will go on to the next resume. Once your resume is opened, you have less than 12 seconds of the reader’s time before they decide to interview or not.

Objectively evaluate your features. Don’t bombard the hiring manager with every feature you possess, instead focus on areas that relate to the job you are targeting. Being a Microsoft Office expert is great, but a hiring manager is more interested in how you sell. Do you identify potential clients? Negotiate contract terms? Break into new accounts? Convert business from competitors? Keep the content relevant so that the hiring manager will spend that 12 seconds reading information that will compel them to interview you.

Avoid being gratuitous – don’t add words just because you think that is what a hiring manager wants to see. If you haven’t done something, don’t try to imply you have.

If you add accomplishments, be sure they are real accomplishments. Being ranked in the top 50% of your sales force is not an accomplishment that is going to make a hiring manager see you as a top performer.

Don’t over complicate your job history. A resume should not be a puzzle where a hiring manager has to put the pieces together. Your history should make sense and be easy to follow. I am not a fan of functional resumes. A well-developed chronological resume shows the path and skills developed that have gotten you to the place you are now.

Have you found yourself scratching your head trying to figure out which companies hire MSLs with no previous MSL experience? Landing that first MSL job can feel like a daunting challenge, especially in today’s highly competitive job market.

There is good news though. Almost every pharmaceutical company will hire MSLs with no existing experience. That said there are always specific jobs that require certain backgrounds and experience. As a job search coach, I have yet to find a single company that will not hire new MSLs. All companies have extensive training programs that even experienced MSLs go through.

You are unlikely to find a MSL job posting that doesn’t require experience, but be assured MSLs get jobs without existing experience. In the last few months I have coached multiple MSL candidates into MSL jobs with no experience. They include:

Ph.D. with preclinical research to MSL in major pharmaceutical company

M.D. to MSL in major pharmaceutical company

Ph.D. with pharmaceutical industry research scientist to MSL in large biotech company

Ph.D. with technical sales to MSL position in pharmaceutical company

Ph.D. Postdoc Associate to MSL position in biotechnology company

Pharm.D. into MSL position at small pharmaceutical company

It is important to target key hiring managers directly. Their focus is on filling the needs of their division,not matching you against 10 bullet points listed in a job description. Before you approach hiring managers, take the time to ensure your resume is not only professional looking, but relays your strengths and background in ways that are relevant to the job you want. The more you understand what attributes a hiring manager looks for the better you are able to present your background in relevant terms. Don’t let the fact that there is not a job posted stop you from sending your resume to a hiring manager pro-actively. Remember, over 40% of all jobs filled are never posted!

If you are serious about landing a MSL job take the time to build a good foundation (resume) and develop a strategy that will get you noticed. I have coached dozens of MSL candidates with no experience into MSL jobs. It can be done.

Do you have questions about your job search or the MSL career? Ask Elizabeth, the MSL job search specialist, resume writer, and interview coach.

Have you found yourself scratching your head trying to figure out which companies hire medical / pharmaceutical sales reps with no previous medical sales experience? Landing that first medical sales job can feel like a daunting challenge, especially in today’s highly competitive job market.

If your strategy is to respond only to job postings, you are fighting an uphill battle because almost all postings will require some level of experience. In reality, almost every company will hire a sales rep with no previous medical / pharmaceutical sales experience (there are always certain positions that require specific experience).

Every company has structured training programs that each rep will go through (experienced or not). Finding companies most likely willing to hire someone with your background is the key to a successful job search. Once you find the right companies to target, it is crucial that you get your resume into the hands of a high level hiring manager. Their focus is on supporting the needs of the sales organization, not matching you against 10 bullet points listed in a job description. Before you approach hiring managers, take the time to ensure your resume is not only professional looking, but relays your strengths and background in ways that are relevant to the job you want. The more you understand what attributes a hiring manager looks for the better you are able to present your background in relevant terms. Don’t let the fact that there is not a job posted stop you from sending your resume to a hiring manager pro-actively. Remember, over 40% of all jobs filled are never posted!

If you are serious about landing a medical sales job take the time to build a good foundation (resume) and develop a strategy that will get you noticed. I have coached 100s of people with no existing medical sales experience into medical sales jobs. It can be done. Learn more about how to market yourself in my easy to understand job search guidebook for medical sales professionals. Everything you need to know to conduct a more effective job search is laid out with easy to read illustrated instructions in “Breaking into Medical Sales – your Guide to Success”. Available only through my website – http://www.clinicalstrategist.com/breaking-into-medical-sales.html.

Recent success stories include:

A B2B rep landing their first medical sales job

Insurance sales rep landing medical sales position with major medical device company

What does your job search look like? Do you spend hours each day searching job boards, submitting resumes to blind job postings and filling out applications on company websites only to find yourself no closer to an interview? This is definitely activity, but is it productivity? The truth is that not all activity is productive. There are some basic strategies that can ensure your job search activity is productive, but it requires changing the way you conduct your job search. Assign a goal to each step of the job search process and you will quickly realize how ineffective your current strategy is.

Writing your resume → to get the attention of a hiring manager, to serve as a tool to make the interview easier

Submitting your resume to a company website → to generate an interview

Phone screen with HR → to land you an interview with a hiring manager

All it takes is a quick analysis of activities and goals and it becomes obvious that the point of every activity is to get in front of a hiring manager. It is very unlikely that this will be accomplished by submitting a resume to a web portal. Notable statistic – Less than 10 of every 500 resumes submitted on-line will ever be seen by a hiring manager. If the goal is to have your resume seen by a hiring manager, why are you starting from the bottom up? For most job seekers the answer is simple – it is the only way they know how to do it. Your goal should be to send your resume to a high level decision maker and let them refer it down. Using this strategy will not only ensure your resume is read, it separates you from the 100s of other candidates competing for the same job. The best part of this strategy is that it allows you to market yourself to a company even if they don’t have jobs posted! Notable statistic – over 50% of jobs filled are never posted anywhere.

Non-posted (or hidden) jobs are found because candidates go to the jobs instead of waiting for the jobs to come to them. Many times it is about timing or becoming a solution before a problem is known. Imagine your resume being opened by the VP of Sales the same day he learns his sales rep is leaving that works in your territory. Maybe they plan on firing a sales rep in your area but can’t post the job or the rep would find out. It really is that simple. When you focus on marketing yourself to companies, you spend your job search time productively.

Like this:

Do you feel like your job search has hit a wall? Are you accepting this or looking for ways to overcome the obstacles?

If you are ready to be more productive in your job search, start with an objective analysis of yourself as a candidate and your overall job search strategy.

First, put yourself in the hiring manager’s seat. What makes you a better candidate for the job than the other 200 people who have also submitted a resume? If you don’t know, how do you expect the hiring manager to know? (Hint – it isn’t because you want the job more than the other candidates.)

Second, email your resume to yourself and open as if you were a hiring manager. Is your email address professional? That is the first impression a hiring manager has of you. In 10 seconds or less can you see what is compelling about your background? Is the resume easy to read when opened? Does it take too much searching to figure out what you have sold and who you sold it to?

Third, ask yourself who is reading your resume. If you are submitting resumes to generic email boxes, there is a good chance no one is reading it. How are you going to be noticed with over 200 resumes to choose from?

The good news is that there are solutions to these challenges.
1) Identify what it is that will make you better at the job than your competitors. View yourself as a product and highlight the relevant features.
2) Update your resume. A good resume is the foundation for your job search. It will help you land interviews and make the interviews easier. If you aren’t getting interviews, consider having it professionally written (yes, I write medical sales resumes).
3) Quit being passive with your job search and create a job search strategy. As a salesperson, you should be selling yourself directly to a buyer (hiring manager). Identify key decision makers in companies and market yourself to them.